Beautiful Stranger
by Nefertanya dragongurl Ahhotep
Summary: After tangling with MarquisDemon, the DigiDestined have decided to find Gennai and find out a few things. But finding Gennai always seems to lead to more 'distractions', and now Gomamon and Joe find themseles dealing with a new foe.....or is she?
1. Beginnings

HI everybody! Remember me? It's your old pal Nefertanya!  
  
Okey-dokey. Here's a little background info for those just tuning in. Four Earth years prior, the double D's defeated the Dark Masters and Apoclymon. They still have their inner crests, but still no tags. Just recently, Palmon was kidnapped and changed human by a bishonen digimon named MarquisDemon. But upon his defeat, the teens learned his true name was Merlin.  
So it's off to Gennai's house, to understand just who the heck he really was, and why he and his sister Nimue were nowhere to be found on the Digi-analyzer.  
  
If only it were that easy.....  
  
A.S.D.A-except for my little pink bishie gomamon girl.   
  
Beautiful Stranger  
  
"I looked into your eyes,  
And my world came tumbling down.  
You're the devil in disguise,  
That's why I'm singing this song to you."  
~Madonna, Beautiful Stranger  
  
  
Chapter 1: Baby's Got Blue Eyes  
  
Dusk was settling upon the glade where the digi-tachi were settling down for the night. The sun's last rays played on the cliff face behind the glade, painting it rich shades red and orange. It's effect was soothing and peaceful to the troubled soul. Unfortunately, the troubled souls were too busy grumbling to themselves to notice. It had been another trying day for the digi-destined-another monster defeated, another argument between Matt and Tai. Exhausted, they were all irritable and aching for rest.   
  
Well, everyone but Gomamon that is. Somehow, the trickster had retained his patented upbeat attitude, and proceeded to lighten up the other's moods with a few practical jokes-a stolen hat here, a disrupted fishing attempt there. Unfortunately, all his attempts at humor backfired on him and make just matters worse. at one time, he barely managed to escape getting his ear literally chewed off by a cranky Agumon.   
  
Finally frustrated with his antics, Joe sent him to look for food, or wood, or danger-anything to get him out of the way before one of the others actually got a chance to strangle him. Pride hurt, the water digimon waddled off towards the cliff face till he came across a crystalline pool not too far from the camp.   
  
*SPLASH!*  
  
Gomamon leapt into the cool, comforting waters and explored the glassy depths. Strangely, there were no aquatic creatures to be seen, although the pool seemed to be healthy and full of vegetation. He sighed and swam up to the surface. There he floated on his back and allowed self-pity to surround him like a second skin  
  
. "Why can't they just lighten up?" he thought sourly. "Don't they understand that we need to keep our spirits up? To stay strong we mustn't let all this mystery and mayhem get to us again like it did when we were younger?"  
  
Suddenly he felt it. That particular sensation one gets when one is being watched. Very closely. And very close to you. Startled, Gomamon bolted upright in the water and spun around.  
  
And found himself staring right into a pair of beautiful eyes the color of a perfect tropical lagoon.  
  
Gomamon let out a small gasp and backed up a few paces. Gomamon stared in shock. He blinked his eyes hard a couple of times, trying to prove that what he was seeing was an illusion. But this was quite real. Another gomamon was staring intently at him. Although most of it was under the water, he could tell that it was slightly smaller than him, indicating that it was female. She had a magenta pink mane and...  
  
A magenta pink mane?!  
  
That part of Gomamon's brain that was unaffected by her sudden appearance reasoned that there was no such thing as a Gomamon with a pink mane. Gomamons by nature had various shades of red, but nowhere in the spectrum was *that* color. The front of it fell over delicately into her blue eyes, another shade he couldn't recall ever seeing.  
  
Who are you?"  
  
Finally over the initial shock, he was curious, and more than a little annoyed that he had been observed without his consent.  
  
"Where did you come from? I've been here for quite some time, why didn't you just say hello? What do you want? AND WHY ARE YOU JUST STARING AT ME?!"   
  
The only response he was awarded with was her continued stare. Flustered, the male water digimon stared back suspiciously, trying not to fidget in front of her unblinking gaze. Silently, the female slid her gaze to something behind Gomomon's shoulder, her eyes widening at some object there.   
  
A sense of dread whispered over him as he turned around reluctantly. "Huh? What is it?"  
  
As far as he could tell, there was nothing there to be on alert for. He turned back to question the newcomer. But she was already...gone? Quickly he dove under the surface, searching as fast as his flippers would let him. He briefly thought about calling his fish friends, but as there was no life in the pool to begin with, he doubted that they would be of much help. She was nowhere to be found underwater, so he gave up and swam to shore. Before he left, he gave one last look around. Who was this mysterious she-digimon, and why was she here? Was she a spy? If she was, why would she let herself be seen by him?   
  
He ran off to camp to tell the others what had occurred, unaware of the blue lagoon eyes that followed him from the bushes sadly from the bushes. He was too far ahead too hear the crashing commotion emanating from those bushes as a tall tan figure walked away, a limp paw dangling from one side.  
  
~1~  
  
Chapter 1: Crying Wolf-er, Seal  
  
"I'm serious, guys!"  
  
Gomamon had finally reached the digidestined campsite and relayed his current situation to them. He'd anticipated confusion, he'd anticipated concern. He hadn't anticipate on amusement.  
  
"Oh, c'mon Gomamom! You really expect us to believe a disappearing digimon?" teased Tai. "And a female one at that!"  
  
"Aw, poor Gomamon getting lonely?" whimpered Gabumon with a pathetic expression on his face, causing the laughter to grow more raucous.   
  
Gomamon's jaw dropped. Of all the digimon....He briefly thought about revealing Gabumon's feelings towards a certain plant digimon.....but no, that wouldn't be fair to either of them.  
  
Still, it hurt that his best friend's refused to believe him. So what if he had played a few jokes before? He'd never invent a story that could lead the team into danger, real or imagined! This was all that female's fault, he thought sourly. Her and her bright pink mane, big blue eyes, cute little ears...  
  
He growled and shook his head as if to derail his train of thought. Then, laughter still burning in his ears, he waddled off to mope under a tree.  
  
"Ahem." Gomamon looked up at the familiar voice to see his Joe standing there. The tall boy smiled warmly at the grumpy little digimon.   
  
"May I please join you?"  
  
Gomamon shrugged and looked away, putting his head on his paws. "If you wish. I really don't care either way." he replied coolly.   
  
Joe sat down with a sigh. "What's wrong, Goma-kun? Another joke backfire on ya? That's never stopped *you* before."   
  
He reached out and scratched behind his guardian's floppy ears. The water digimon looked up sadly and wailed, "That's just it, Joe! This wasn't some colossal joke. There really was a strange digimon out there! One I've never seen before!"  
  
"Well, Gomamon, you *have* been playing pranks all evening-"  
  
"Joe, I would never pull a stunt like this. It's too dangerous to make up stories like that, especially after all the battles we've all fought! Do you really think I'd lead *you* of all people into danger?"   
  
Joe looked at Gomamon's sincere, sad face and melted. "All right, maybe you're telling the truth after all. But you gotta admit it is strange, a female gomamon appearing out of nowhere and completely anti-social. What's the DigiWorld coming to?" Gomomon smiled at the jest, and Joe smiled back. The tired digimon crawled into his lap and snuggled down. "I wonder who she is. Do you think she's a spy, Joe?"   
  
"Maybe. Maybe not. Can't really say. But if she is, we'd better watch our backs. She may bring a lot of trouble our way." Resting against the tree trunk, the pair fell into a very deep sleep.   
  
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Chapter 2: Premonitions  
  
  
The next morning turned out to be rather uneventful. Everyone except Joe seemed content to spend the morning hike mercilessly teasing Gomamon about his lost 'girlfriend'. Tired of protesting against deaf ears, the red-head pouted silently, taking the abuse.  
  
He huddled close to Joe, who was lagging behind the others, an act rather unusual for him. But today he was pondering over a strange dream he'd had just before waking. In it, he found himself in an eerily lit castle, nearing a slab-no, not a slab. An operating table, with someone or *something* on it. Was Gomamon's mysterious discovery a clue? Or was it just some bad fish? In light of their current treatment of his little friend, perhaps he'd better hide these notions from the others. He could do that. He'd be like a wall, impassive and unemotional. He would fool everybody!  
  
"What's wrong, Joe?"  
  
Apparently not very well.  
  
"Huh?" Startled, he turned to look at Sora. "Oh, nothing really. I was just...thinking how things are so quiet here."   
  
Up front, Tai halted and smirked evilly. "Oh, great Joe. Why don't you just jinx us all?" he said sarcastically, referring to the many times Joe himself had leveled such accusations against his teammates.  
  
The tall boy blinked in surprise, then ducked his head in apology. "Tai, chill out." barked Sora, "That's just silly superstition." Tai blushed lightly, then continued walking, sufficiently chagrined.   
  
"Joe?" Looking down at the concerned water digimon. "Yes?"  
  
"What is it, really?"   
  
Sighing in slight annoyance, he looked up at a random cloud and answered, "Just a bad dream I had last night, Gom. That's all." He stared straight ahead and quickened his pace. Gomamon immediately got the message -topic closed.  
  
For two whole sunny days, the digidestined walked in peace, camping under the stars each balmy night. However, on the third morning, a general sense of unease filled them. This morning dawned cooler and grayer, almost as if the entire area was forlorn. Everyone grew very snippy and short, and a fistfight between Agumon and Tai had almost been inevitable at one point.  
  
"What's going on?" Sora wondered aloud, one arm around the little orange dino in comfort. "I can't believe *you* of all digimon would try to bite Tai for no good reason!"  
  
"I know!" he wailed, considerably distressed by his own actions. "It's like the air itself is grating on my nerves! I just snapped."  
  
Sora nodded knowingly. "There sure is something weird going on. Hopefully we'll leave it all behind tomorrow."  
  
"Hey, What's that over there?!"  
  
The others glanced warily at the tone in the wild haired boy's voice. Tai took no notice, as he was too busy ogling the something in his mini-scope. Finally, Matt sighed and strolled over. "All right, what is it?"  
  
Tai gave the tall blonde the scope. "It looks like some kind of castle!"  
  
Matt peered in the direction his friend had been looking again, and blanched slightly. Sure enough, it was a castle. "So it is." he affirmed gloomily.  
  
Compared to this, MarquisDemon's castle looked like the Holiday Inn. Even from this distance, Matt could tell it was very decrepit, and almost seemed to have a glow around it.  
  
"I say we avoid it like the plague.'  
  
"What?!" Tai screeched in Matt's ear. "You gotta be kidding!"  
  
"Don't you remember the last time we went into a beat-up castle?" he jerked his head towards Palmon. "Palmon nearly drowned, and MarquisDemon nearly killed Mimi."  
  
"And then they both turned out to be trapped souls! We freed them!"  
  
"*We* didn't do anything! It was that, that, that Nimue/Ladymon woman who convinced him to stop, who ran in front of Palmon's attack! All we did was run around like a bunch of cockroaches in a cheesy apartment!!"  
  
And so for the better part of a half-hour, the two leaders bickered, eventually adding a little fist action before reaching a compromise. They'd go to the castle, but leave the moment things seemed like they were going too far.  
  
Joe didn't dare sleep a wink that night. He kept staring in the direction of the castle, even though it was too dark to see it. His dream haunted him too much to try to sleep, even though there was no evidence that the castle had any connection to it.  
  
Beside him, Gomomon slept fitfully, mumbling in his sleep. Joe thought about the little she-gomamon that his friend met. Was she really real? Why didn't she talk to Gomamon. Granted, he was probably being very stereotypical, but he had always seen gomamons as very personable, chatty characters. Goma had mentioned something about a pink mane-maybe she'd contracted a virus? Virus-afflicted digimon always appeared to have different colorations than their normal counterparts, so maybe she was. Or maybe she was just being shy.   
  
Well, no matter. Tomorrow they'd be at the castle. Tomorrow, Joe had a feeling, all his questions would be answered.  
  
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Chapter 3: We're Going In!!  
  
It was almost sundown when they all finally reached the castle. Up close, it looked even more decrepit and frightening than from within the mini-scope. Strange howls and squeaks filled the air, along with a persistent smell of burnt grease.   
  
"Maybe we should turn back?" suggested Mimi hopefully, Palmon cowering a bit behind her skirt. TK also drew back, Patamon's ears peeking from behind his hat(a/n: did I ever mention I hate that Gillagan hat? He's wearing his old hat here).  
  
"No Way!" cried Tai, Kari and Gatomon very close behind. "We've come this far. We gotta see this through!"  
  
"No, we don't." snapped Matt. "We never agreed to go inside, Tai. We just agreed we'd check it out!"  
  
"How are we going to check it out if we don't go inside? Besides, I had a dream last night." He turned back to the massive structure and stared up at the turrets that threatened to tip over on him. "I dreamt there was someone trapped deep inside. I'm not leaving till I make sure it wasn't just an illusion."  
  
"Was there an operating table?"  
  
"Huh?" the others turned towards Joe in surprise. He blushed a little awkwardly. "I had a dream the night before last. Someone was on an operating table in some eerie castle."  
  
Tai's face practically glowed. "There! See? We *have* to go inside now! Someone needs our help!"  
  
"Besides, climbing down the mountain in the dark would be way too dangerous. This land is unfamiliar to us, after all." confirmed Izzy, staring up at the castles turrets. "Hmm. I wonder if this is really some sort of factory, like Andromon's. Those squeaks certainly sound mechanical in nature."   
  
Tai held up his fist in triumph. "Well, c'mon let's get a move on! It's probably like a hotel on the inside!"   
  
"Yeah, like Devimon's mansion." Sora grumbled sourly.  
  
Tai boldly ran up to the door, Sora, Izzy, and their digimon close behind. Kari grabbed T.K's hand, who promptly blushed, and with a gulp, followed her brother.  
  
"Or a mausoleum." muttered Mimi softly. She felt someone close to her, and looked in surprise at Matt. Smiling gently, he patted her shoulder.   
  
"Don't worry, Mimi. I'm sure whatever's inside is no match for us and our digimon." he said softly.  
  
Both the wolf and orchid agreed vehemently, althogh they passed apprehensive looks at each other when Mimi turned away. Grateful to Matt for the reassurance, she allowed him to take her elbow and be guided to where the others were standing.  
  
*Great.* Joe thought to himself. *I had to open my mouth.* He looked down at the little seal, who looked back worriedly. "I think this is a bad idea, Gomamon." he sighed.   
  
"For once we agree." Gomomon replied dryly. They went towards the entrance, where Tai was tapping his foot impatiently, eager to have a new adventure. After a silent pause, the door creaked open slowly. But no one was there to welcome them, and no one answered their hails.   
  
"I don't think anyone's home." said Palmon.   
  
"There's gotta be someone!" Tai cried indignantly. "Doors just don't open themselves!"  
  
"Maybe it was a ghost!" offered TK Kari gasped and stepped closer to him, and Patamon and Gatomon shrunk behind their legs.  
  
"Quit trying to scare everybody, Tai!" Matt snarled.   
  
"I'M NOT! Your brother brought up ghosts, not me!"  
  
"Yeah, well-"  
  
Sora and Mimi jumped in between before another major fist fight could start. "That's enough Tai! We don't need this right now!"  
  
"Please Matt! Don't fight with Tai! Mimi gave her most imploring look, Sora looked ready to kill.   
  
After several tense moments, both boys it was better to pay attention to the dilemma at hand. They still vividly remembered Sora's last mood swing, and unconsciously, Tai rubbed his head.  
  
Meanwhile, Joe and Gomomon were still hanging around the entrance. "Man, I just know I'm allergic to haunted houses." Joe whimpered.   
  
"Oh, shut up, Joe!"   
  
Joe looked down in stunned surprise at his usually good-natured digimon's harsh words. Gomamon blinked, then ducked his head as he realized what he'd said.  
  
"I'm sorry Joe. I guess I'm more nervous than I thought." he apologized. Joe smiled and bent down to scratch behind Gomomon's ears.  
  
"Hey everybody! Come look at this!"  
  
They all turned to find Izzy and Tentamon near a rickety old staircase. Upon somewhat closer inspection, it looked like it had once been very elegant and grand, but time and neglect had reduced it to dimestore reject.   
  
"What's up, brainiac? asked Matt.   
  
"Look up there, at the top of the stairs. Notice anything out of the ordinary?"   
  
The digi-tachi followed the finger he was pointing with. While the rest of the staircase was broken down and ugly, the top landing looked like it had been just made. The polished brass finish and varnished wood all reflected a purplish glow that seemed to emanate just out of view.   
  
"It's so pretty! What is it?" exclaimed Palmon. Izzy pulled out his laptop and started tapping.   
  
"I'm not sure Palmon. Perhaps if I try to enter-Hey! What the-?"  
  
"What happened, Izzy?" Tentamon buzzed of his shoulder.   
  
"I-I don't know! When I tried to enter the data into my laptop, it froze and shut off!" He gazed at the purple glow. "I know I just charged up my batteries, so whatever is up there must have the power to disrupt electronic signals." he said in slight awe.  
  
Joe took a few steps back. "That sounds rather dangerous!" Ignoring Joe's protests, Tai began to navigate the stairs.   
  
"Only one way to find out!"  
  
"Tai! We just can't go flying upstairs!" Matt screeched incredulously. "Those stairs are so old they'll probably break when we step on them!"  
  
Tai, however, was not to be deterred, especially by Matt. "We'll be fine if we're careful, Matt!"   
  
He called from the third step. "See? We just go slow, and hang on to the railing. Piece of cake!"   
  
Agumon eagerly hopped up to follow, but the others(who had a greater will to live)were more reluctant.   
  
"No Way! Uh-Uh! Don't you guy's know I'm allergic to heights?!" squawked Joe as he frantically waved his hands, even though no one was arguing with him.   
  
"Here guys!" Sora came out of nowhere, holding the end of an old rope. "We can tie this around our waist just like professional spelunkers do! That way if one of us slips or falls through, they won't have very far to go because the rest of us can stop them!"   
  
Tentamon turned to Izzy. "That's great, but what's a speed-lunker?"   
  
Izzy took the rope from Biyomon and tied it around him. "A SPELUNKER is someone who climbs mountains and caverns."   
  
"Or in our case, stairways!" giggled the pink bird.   
  
"All right, everybody ready? Let's go!" cried Tai, rapidly tying the rope around Agumon and himself. Pretty much ignoring Joe's protests, the group slowly picked their way up.  
  
*I know you're around her somewhere." Gomomon thought to himself. "I can just sense it. We'll find you, and then the others will see I'm not lying! But I wonder what you want from me? And what are you doing in a place like this anyway?" *  
  
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Chapter 4: We All Fall Down!  
  
A sudden shriek and a sharp tug on the rope around his belly pulled him from his thoughts. Halfway from the stairs, Mimi had miscalculated a move and suddenly found herself dangling above a dark, hazy abyss. Screaming was the only option available to her, so she eagerly exploited it to the max. Luckily the rope, though very old, held fast, and with Palmon's help, Matt managed to pull her back up.   
  
"Mimi, quit screaming! You're safe now!"   
  
Mimi promptly stopped wailing and whimpering, flung herself into Matt. "That was SO scary!! Thank you so much Matt for saving me!"   
  
Matt, surprised by her outburst, stumbled to find answer and blushed. "Uh...yeah, sure, no problem."  
  
"Hey I helped too!" pouted Palmon. "Oh, of course! Thank you too, Palmon! Thank you so much!" Mimi hugged her plant digimon as hard as she could.  
  
"Well, if you all are done with the heroics, let's get a move on here, 'kay?" Tai sniffed rather crossly. "We're almost to the top!"   
  
The purple glow grew brighter with every inch they conquered, yet its source still remained hidden. Finally Sora was pulled onto the landing onto the thick, plush, vermilion red carpet. They untied themselves, and cautiously began to look around.  
  
*CR-R-R-ACK!!!*  
  
The double D's watched in horror as the staircase they'd just finished clambering up turn into a pile of scrap lumber and rusty nails. Slowly, a few heads turned towards Mimi.   
  
"It's not *my* fault!!" she cried when she realized what they were thinking. "It's not like I *planned* on falling!"  
  
"Mimi's right." Gabumon piped up, his voice slightly echoing as he peered over the edge. "The wood was so rotted I'm surprised now that we all made it unharmed! It's probably been threatening to do this for years!"  
  
"But then why is this part so new looking?" Palmon asked him. Gabumon blushed as he shrugged, slinking back to Matt's side.  
  
"And more importantly, how are we going to get back downstairs?!"  
  
"Relax, Joe. I'm sure there must be another way out somewhere." soothed Sora.  
  
"Over there!" Izzy cried.   
  
Just ahead of them, at the end of a long hall, was a large, heavy looking door surrounded by the brilliant purple glow. With silent consent, they all followed Tai towards it. The horrid squeaks and odors previously they noticed outside became stronger and louder as the neared the apparent source.  
  
"Hey, does anybody else realize we never heard any of these sounds on the stairs?" asked Sora.   
  
"Now that you mention it, no we didn't. That's very peculiar." Izzy remarked. "I wonder how that would occur?"  
  
"Who cares? It's probably something bad anyway." moaned Joe.  
  
"Maybe we were so caught up in being careful(and my near-death rescue)that we just never thought about it" Mimi offered. The others stared at her in response.   
  
"Joe?"  
  
He looked down. "Yes, Gomomon?"   
  
The seal digimon looked steadily at the door ahead. "You may think this is totally crazy, but I get the feeling that other gomoamon is here somewhere. Actually I've felt it since we found this place, but I didn't want to upset you."  
  
"Or get laughed at by the others."   
  
Gomomon's ears drooped a little. "Yeah, that too."   
  
Joe put his arms behind his head and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "If she is here, then I wonder if she's been leading us into a type of trap. After all, just about every digimon we've come across in these kinds of circumstances has wanted us dead. Maybe this is some big scheme to kill us all."   
  
Gomamon pondered Joe's words for awhile. *Is that what you wanted me for? As bait to help you destroy my friends? But this seems a little extreme. After all, there were plenty of chances before now when we were vulnerable. Or were we supposed to meet our ends on the staircase...?"*  
  
Sadly he shook his head. "Couldn't tell ya."   
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Endings??

Distractions, Distractions. Seems like Tai still has a short memory-his sister has barely healed from their stint at MarquisDemon's place, and he's ready to break everybody's neck on a staircase! And what a crazy staircase it is, what with the landing totally brand new and the rest decades old! But what now? The purple glow coming from the door at the end of the hall doesn't bode well, and neither do Joe's and Gomamon's apprehensions. What could be there?  
  
A.S.D.A-except for my little pink bishie gomamon girl....and Heymon   
  
Beautiful Stranger  
  
Chapter 5: There's Always Room For....!  
  
The softly-spoken words were drowned out, however, the protesting shrieks of poorly-oiled machinery being forced to work. Using hand gestures, as it was no longer useful to speak in anything less than ear-splitting shrieks, Tai, Matt, Agumon and Gabumon positioned themselves in front of the door while the others fanned out behind, tensed for action should they need it.   
  
On a silent count of three, the leaders rammed into the door at full strength and speed....  
  
And yelped in surprise as the door easily gave way. In fact, it fell off its hinges and crashed on the floor with a loud BANG! The others giggled as the quartet began to untangle themselves. Gomamon temporarily forgot his apprehension as he watched Gabumon allow Palmon to help him to his feet, but jump like he'd been burned when she tried to brush some dust off his arm.  
  
After they boys had recovered some of their dignity, Gomamon began to look around. Oddly enough, now that they were inside the room, all the smells and sounds were muted again, as if they were a hundred miles away. Gomamon wondered absently if his hearing had been ruined by the noise.  
  
Walking through the room, he noted everything was cast in a purplish glow. No, he amended, it was *reflecting* a purplish glow...from what looked like a giant cube of electric grape Jell-o™.  
  
"Joe! Guys! Come and see this!"   
  
They all gathered in a semi-circle around it, while Izzy tried, again to no avail, to decipher the strange object. Everyone then began to offer their own opinions as to what it was-everything from a dimensional rift to a snack for a giant electric digimon.   
  
"Maybe it's a prison?" Gatomon wondered aloud. "Myotismon had all sorts for....less than stellar behavior." Her eyes were dark and sour, and her tail lashed with unspoken passion.  
  
Well, that did it. *Now* they wanted in. Not that they really knew why. After all, it could be the prison of a digimon virus stronger than any they'd ever faced. But the notion that innocent digimons were in there niggled at their sense of justice. So they brainstormed their heads off, but didn't appear to be getting anywhere until....  
  
  
"Hey look, Tai!"   
  
"Huh?"   
  
Agumon was tugging on his sleeve, pointing to a toggle switch in the wall.   
  
"Hey, maybe you found the off switch, Augie!"   
  
Agumon reached up and flipped the switch before anybody could offer a protest. Sure enough, the electric Jello fizzled and disappeared, exposing a hidden wall and a simple wooden door with an old fashioned handle.  
  
The digi-tachi looked at each other, then at Joe. Being the closest, it was sup to him to open the door. He did so with an audible gulp, and trembling slightly, stepped into the room, Gomamon at his heel.   
  
The room was spotless, sterile, and a blindingly bright white. Old fashioned medical equipment, better described as torture devices, lined the walls and lay in precise order on the cold looking metal tables. In fact, they were probably freezing, because the air was absolutely frigid.  
  
Toward the back of the room, two large, slightly sparking electrodes flanked a table occupied by a white lump that moved slightly, rhythmically. The lump was *alive*. Various colored wires and tubes were attached between it and the electrodes.   
  
The digi-tachi gasped collectively. What or who could be so cruel? Was this medicine in the DigitalWorld? Joe made a mental note to bring his pre-med books next time they came back. Digimon deserved better care than this.  
  
Perhaps it was that thought, or maybe just the sounds the group were making, but at that precise moment, the lump began to move. Gomamon squeezed through Joe's legs and stared. Could it be?*  
  
Uncurling stiffly, the teens were greeted to a shock of bright magenta pink, then found themselves looking into the biggest, saddest pair of eyes they'd ever seen. Eyes the color of a perfect tropical lagoon.  
  
Gomamon's heart somehow managed to sink and leap up at the same time as his suspicions were confirmed.   
  
"Hey! That's her!"  
  
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Chapter 6: Hello, How Are You...  
  
"Oh! Oh, the poor little thing!" cooed Mimi as they all walked over to the ensnared water digimon. Well, everyone but Gomamon, that is. He had suddenly begun to experience something like jealousy towards the small creature.   
  
*I don't believe it! For nearly two days they refuse to listen to me, but now that they know she exists they haven't even apologized!!* He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. *This is silly. She's hurt, there's really no reason I should be so angry-Hey whaddya think you're doing Joe?!" *  
  
At that moment, Joe had reached over to scratch behind her ears as the girls fussed and cooed. Gomamon's body almost turned green. Imagine, his Joe being so friendly with another digimon! Even scratching her in his favorite spot with the same look of affection he normally reserved for him!!   
  
"Well, excuse me for interrupting this tender little moment," he snapped, "But we have no idea who did this, or even what side she's on. Do any of you really think it's a good idea to be so palsy-walsy?"  
  
The others looked at him in surprise at the tone in his voice. "Lighten up, Gomamon. She's too weak to fight. I don't even know how she can manage to stay in Rookie form." said Augumon.   
  
"Yeah, what's your problem?" second Tai.   
  
As he opened his mouth to retort, Matt spoke up. "He's right guys. Whoever would do this to a digimon might mean bad news for us."  
  
"But we aren't going to just leave her like this, are we Yama-san?" pleaded Mimi with big puppy-dog eyes.   
  
"Uh-" stuttered Matt, temporarily blind-sided.  
  
"Of course not. But I think it would be advantageous to find out who we're dealing with, right *Yama-san*?" said Izzy dryly. The blonde boy glared, then forced a smile.   
  
"Exactly, Izzy. We need to be careful."  
  
Izzy opened up his laptop and hooked it carefully into free USB port on the side of the left electrode. Almost instantaneously, the screen unfroze and information began pouring in.   
  
"Hmm, there appears to be some kind of upload program going on here. Although I can't be positive what's being uploaded where. However, I believe that I can utilize the data here to free our friend here."   
  
He tapped a few keys. "Now if I.... And this equals this.... Almost.... Yes.... Okay..."  
  
"Izzy, any time now!"  
  
"Just a second, gang! There, I've figured out how to stop the process. Sora, Mimi, see that large red lever behind you?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Go over and wait for my signal. Then pull down. Got it?" Both girls nodded. "Great. Okay, TK and Patamon, go on the other side and get ready to push the purple button."  
  
"'Kay."  
  
"No prob, Iz."  
  
"Now Gomamon, come here."  
  
The water digimon became immediately suspicious and unwilling. "What for?"   
  
Izzy answered without looking up from his screen. "This program is highly unusual as it appears the only way to completely stop the process is for the attached digimon or one of the same species unhooks it."  
  
Gomamon snorted contemptuously. "So why doesn't she just do it herself?"   
  
Izzy finally looked up from his screen, annoyed by the seal's unwillingness to help. "Because she's to weak to do it! C'mon Gomomon, she can barely stand!"   
  
In spite of himself, Gomamon found himself turning towards the table's occupant. She was looking directly at him, her beautiful eyes pleading. He started to feel like his old reliable self again-till Joe walked up and patted her paw.   
  
"Don't worry, he'll help." he smiled encouragingly, and the little girl smiled weakly back.   
  
That did it. No way he was going to do anything for *her*. She was gonna just be trouble, anyway. "I don't see why I should." he snipped, turning his back.   
  
Joe's face grew dark for the first time since Gomamon and he met, and the little sea lion could not help being a little terrified.  
  
Joe was getting sick and tired of his digimon's unusually bratty attitude. "You are going to help, and you are going to do it NOW!" He spoke slowly, quietly, like a man full of barely restrained fury.  
  
Gomamon's face was a mixture of incredulity and resentment. Never before had he heard Joe use that tone with him, and it made him resent that female even more. Knowing he would be in bigger trouble if he refused further, he scrambled up on the cold metal table and waited, where she greeted him with grateful eyes.  
  
"Nothing but trouble..." he hissed under his breath, trying his best to quelch the guilty sensation when he realized she'd heard him, the grateful eyes now shining with tears.   
  
Izzy began the countdown. "5...4...3...2...1...Okay, Mimi, Sora, Now!"   
  
The girls pulled as hard as they could, and slowly convinced the heavy lever to relinquish it's position.   
  
"Got it!" cried Sora.   
  
"Okay, TK, Patamon-push the button."   
  
Patamon flapped his ears as hard as he could, he and TK forcing the giant button inwards.  
  
"Almost-Hey! We got it!"   
  
Within seconds, the electrodes brightened, sparked one last time, then died out. The smells died away along with the sounds. The liquid filled tubes paused in their transports.  
  
"All right, Gomomon, starting with the temples, carefully remove the grounding wires."   
  
The water digimon stared blankly. "The where?"   
  
Joe sighed irritably and pointed to the sides of his head. "Here. Remove the wires here first, Gomamon. Geeze, what were you doing when you were watching me do my homework"   
  
Gomamon scowled. "Thinking of how I could be better at it *if I knew how to read!!*."   
  
Joe cringed inwardly at his friend's retort. He hadn't meant to bring up the digimon's shortcomings. He'd just been frustrated by the little water digimon's sudden behavior. Joe'd thought that proving to the others he wasn't imagining things would have made him happy, but instead he'd been surlier than when he'd first seen the little female in that pool.  
  
And he was a little concerned for all their safety. If this wasn't some really elaborate trap, then somebody was gonna be totally p.o'd they'd destroyed their little experiment.  
  
"...Okay, now unhook that last wire, and she's free!"   
  
Gomamon sullenly did as told and removed the last wire. The female scrambled wobbly to her feet and flopped right into Gomamon. Hating himself for doing so, he blushed slightly and quickly leapt to the floor. Unfortunately, the gomamon was still off-balance and fell off right on top of him.   
  
TK, Tai, Kari and the digimon burst out laughing. Mimi tried to be ladylike and covered her mouth, Sora and Matt smirked, Joe rolled his eyes, and Izzy was completely oblivious to the whole incident.  
  
Gomamon retreated a few steps and began to be very interested in 'checking' himself for injury as he endured being humiliated again for the umpteenth time that week. The female them all with a dazzling smile of gratitude, then clumsily waddled up to Joe and rubbed her head affectionately against his shin.   
  
Gomamon was horrified by the display. *He* was far too proud to resort to such desperate tactics! Of course, the humans were too enthralled by the newbie to register such 'unbecoming' behavior.  
  
"Hi!" Tai greeted warmly, "My name's Tai, and these are my friends Matt, Joe, Mimi, TK, Izzy, Sora, and my baby sister Kari." Then Agumon pushed past him and offered a taloned paw to the little female. "And I'm Agumon, and that's Gabumon, Patamon, Biyomon, Palmon, Gatomon, Tentamon, and over there-" he pointed a talon in the direction behind Joe, "-is Gomamon."   
  
The others turned to look at him, as if noticing him for the first time. "What're ya doin' over there, Gomomon? Don't ya wanna meet our new friend?"  
A soft shade of red spread over Gomomon's face as he realized that yes, he really *did* want to meet her. But he wasn't about to give her the pleasure of seeing him cave.   
  
"Actually, TK, I think instead of giving introductions we should be gathering information. You know, like who runs this joint, why was she kept here, who she is?"   
  
A hurt expression shone the female's eyes, and she suddenly found the floor very interesting.  
  
"Gomamon's right-to a degree anyway. Well, little lady, can you tell us what's going on around here?" Asked Matt with a dazzling smile. His only response was a baleful stare. Mimi stepped forward and knelt down besides Matt.   
  
"Don't be afraid. We can protect you from anything bad. After all, we've been looking after each other for quite some time and none of us have died yet." she giggled proudly.  
  
The female water digimon smiled sadly at the pink-clad girl, then tapped one large paw against her throat. "What's she doing?"   
  
"I think she's trying to tell us she can't speak." answered Izzy in an obvious tone.  
  
"Can't speak? But , how we'll ever find a safe way to get out of here?" wailed Joe. The gomamon's eyes brightened, and she began hopping up and down excitedly in front of him, occasionally rubbing her head against his shins.   
  
"Huh?"   
  
The double D's watched this display with a perplexed look. Suddenly Joe caught on. "Hey! I think she knows a way out!"   
  
She nodded happily and bounded over to a wall. Gathering herself, she leapt up and hit a hidden button. A wall slid away with a whoosh, reveling a tunnel.   
  
"All right!" cried Augumon. "Let's blow this joint!"   
  
"Yeah, this place gives me the willies." agreed Tentamon. And so they followed the female out.   
  
Gomamon stared in stunned silence. They were willingly following a digimon they've only known for fifteen digi-minutes? Through an uninvestigated tunnel to Gennai-knows-where? Gomamon wondered if they were under some sort of spell, like Palmon was at the other castle. He'd love to try to talk them out of going, but that would've proved futile, so he sighed and followed.   
  
"Hey! Feel that guys?" Squealed Sora with delight.  
  
"Sure do! Ahh, fresh air! The exit must be just ahead!" exclaimed Kari. The female nodded over her shoulder and quickened her pace a little. It was as if she wanted to get as far from this place as possible as well.   
  
And for a good reason. Unknown to the teens, they were in grave danger, and that danger grew with every minute they spent in this area. She would repay their kindness by leading them to the correct path out, and disappear from their lives forever. Repent for sins past....   
  
Too bad, though, she mused. That other gomamon was rather cute when he wasn't being a jerkmon.  
  
"Hey everybody, " screamed Palmon, "there's the exit straight ahead!"  
  
"HOORAY!" cried everybody as they took off in a dead run, and she smiled as they frolicked into the meadows beyond the cave entrance.   
  
"Well, aren't you going to join them?"   
  
She gasped and whipped around. Gomamon was right behind her, a cold, skeptical look on his face. "Or do you know better?"   
  
She understood him then. *He knew.* Somehow, he realized she was not what she seemed. It was her fault they were here in the first place. It was her fault that he'd seen her. And she'd only wanted a closer look at the first digimon she'd ever seen to smile under pressure. But she was trying to make up for it! A few moments more, and he'd never see her again! She'd only basked in the love and companionship that surrounded him everyday for a few moments! How could she have possible taken too much?  
  
She pleaded silently with him, trying to make him understand all this by some non-existent psychic power. They just stood there, lagoon-blue eyes boring into sea-green ones, each trying to make sense of the other.  
  
Biyomon came flapping up to them. "Hey, c'mon you two! Let's go!"   
  
Gomamon broke off his gaze to see that the others were waiting at the edge of the forest. With a final glare at the girl, he bounded off to join Joe. Biyomon looked down to her new friend.   
  
"Don't worry. He's usually a lot nicer. In fact, I think he like you!"   
  
A thought crossed her mind as she little girl refused to meet her gaze. " You are coming with us, aren't you? There can't be anything left for you here."   
  
The pink-haired seal watched the pink bird carefully, then nodded. Of course she'd go. She had to, no one knew these woods better than she. The faster the left, the faster they were away from this horrid place, the sooner she could feel redeemed.   
  
They reached the gang, who(except for a certain red-head) welcomed her like an old friend. She'd better be careful-she could get used to this. She tried to keep an aura of nonchalance while trying to hurry them along.  
  
"HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT MY EXPERIMENTS!!"  
  
At the booming voice, the group looked back with trepidation. No one saw the terror welling in the female's eyes.   
  
No, No. It couldn't be! Not him, not now! Not when she'd come so close to bringing them to safety.   
  
But there he was, and now it was too late.  
  
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Chapter 7: Hey, Heymon...  
  
"HOW DARE YOU WREAK HAVOC UPON MY BEAUTIFUL PLANS!"   
  
The voice boomed across the meadow, echoing of the cliff walls.   
  
"Who is that?" Sora asked no one in particular.   
  
"Don't know, but he sounds awfully mad!" whimpered Mimi from behind. The pink-maned digimon bashed her head into Tai's knees, trying desperately to get the kids moving again. But Tai was to stunned and awestruck to budge. A heavy, repetitive thudding was heard, getting louder and louder. At first Joe had the notion that it was merely his heart, but then a figure came into view.   
  
While not as tall as some of the evil digimon they had battled(he was only about as tall as a maple tree), his body was wiry and lean. Long, unkempt dreadlocks flared around his head like a lion's mane. As he grew closer, Joe realized that they weren't dreadlocks-they were branches! Whoever he was, his body was wood. He looked like a reject from the woods in that scene in 'The Wizard of Oz'.  
  
"Who is that?" Tentamon asked worriedly.   
  
Izzy snapped his head around in shock. "You mean you don't know?!"  
"I AM HEYMON! THESE ARE MY LANDS. AND HOW DARE YOU COME IN UNINVITED, YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE HOUSECRASHERS!"(a/n: Heymon is named such because I stupidly asked my sibling for a good villain name, and after giving my some snotty anti-digimon attitude, asked if anyone was called Heymon. And so, here he is.)  
  
The social butterfly in Mimi grew indignant. "Now see here! We are not housecrashers! And you are an ignorant host, what with your broken-down stairways and your-mmph, mmph!"   
  
Matt and TK had grabbed her from behind and covered her mouth with his gloved hand. "Shh, Mimi! Now's not the time to discuss etiquette!"  
  
"We don't wanna make him any madder, Mimi!" pleaded TK  
  
"YOU DON'T HAVE ANY IDEA OF HOW MAD I AM!" screamed Heymon. "YOU PUNY BRATS RUINED MY EXPERIMENT!"  
  
"Experiment? I don't call harming innocent digimon an experimental! Explain yourself in the name of science!" Izzy challenged at the top of his lungs.   
  
Meanwhile, Gomomon was putting two and two together and not liking the results. *Innocent?!* Gomomon turned an accusing stare to his female counterpart. "You knew he was here, didn't you?"   
  
Tears in her eyes, she hung her head in shame. "I knew it! You tricked us all into coming here, didn't you? This was all a big plot to destroy the digi-destined, wasn't it?"   
  
The frightened gomamon vehemently shook her head. No, that wasn't true. Granted, it had been her job to find them, but she had abandoned her mission the moment she'd seen them enter Heymon's grounds. When she'd seen how they cared for each other, protected each other. And then they'd come to help her, a stranger they didn't know, merely because she had needed it.  
  
But how can a mute explain to deaf ears? Gomamon never trusted her from the getgo, and she couldn't blame him. She had not acted at all in proper gomamon fashion, because, truth be told, she didn't know how. Frustrated, she banged her head against a tree.  
  
"How could you do it?" he asked, voice cracking. She looked up in surprise and met with equally surprised eyes. Quickly, Gomamon ran to Joe's side. He didn't want her to see the tears in his eyes, nor the shame from starting to care about a traitor.   
"SO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'VE SPENT YEARS TO ACCOMPLISH?" Heymon boomed gleefully.   
  
Like most self-absorbed villains, Heymon loved to brag about his plans for success. So he naturally rose to young Izzy's challenge.   
  
"I HAVE BEEN INTRIGUED ABOUT YOU DIGI-DESTINED FOR QUITE SOME TIME, PARTICULARLY YOUR DIGIMON'S ABILITY TO DIGIVOLVE. I HAVE TRIED REPEATEDLY WITHOUT MUCH SUCCESS TO COPY THIS ABILITY-"  
  
"Digivolve without a digivice or a crest? Is that possible?" questioned Tai.  
  
"Shh!"  
  
"BUT RECENTLY I DISCOVERED THE ANSWER. IT CAME TO ME BY ACCIDENT. A GLORIOUS ACCIDENT! AND SOON I WILL USE IT UPON MYSELF, AND RULE THIS WORLD!" Heymon laughed with evil joy.   
  
"Huh? I don't get it. If he knows the method to digivolving, why hasn't he use it on himself yet?" asked Augumon.  
  
"Because he wouldn't know if it was dangerous or not. Most likely he'd need a guinea pig..."Izzy turned around. "...a guinea pig like-her!"   
  
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Chapter 8: Traitor...?  
  
  
  
"She was in on this all the time?!" Squawked Mimi. "It just can't be true!"   
  
It was just too bizarre a concept. After all, hadn't this Heymon tied her up? And she'd rescued them, or at least, facilitated their escape. Mimi looked at the sad expression on the pink-haired gomamon's face. It just couldn't be true.  
  
"OH HO, YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT HONEY! HER JOB WAS TO WATCH AS YOU DIGIVOLVED BACK AND FORTH, THEN REPORT HER FINDINGS TO ME."  
  
Matt couldn't believe his ears. 'So she was a spy! Oh Gomamon, We're sorry we didn't believe you earlier!"   
  
"No."   
  
The crestfallen female turned in surprise at the whispered denial. Joe simply stared at her, disappointment in his eyes. Hurt filled her like a poison, and tears began to stream down her muzzle. Gomamon too looked away, but for a different reason. He had wanted to be right about her, but now that he was, he didn't want to believe it.  
  
"THEN SHE WAS TO LURE YOU ALL TO ME, AFTER MY SUCCESSFUL ADAPTATIONS, SO THAT I COULD TEST MY STRENGTH. BUT SHE BECAME...DISTRACTED FROM HER MISSION, SO I SENT MY SHABTIMON TO-CONVINCE HER. BUT YOU'VE GONE AND RUINED MY PLANS! PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"   
  
He raised his wiry arms. "ARISE, MY LOYAL SHABTIMON! DESTROY THE INTRUDERS!"   
  
The ground trembled as it birthed eight featureless figures. They slogged across the meadow, and swung at whatever was in range.   
"Yahhh!!!" yelped Matt painfully as he was flung into a tree. "Man, they're strong! Careful guys!"   
  
"Agumon digivolve to...Greymon!"  
  
"Biyomon digivolve to...Birdramon!"  
  
"Tentamon digivolve to...Kabutarimon!"  
  
The Champions attacked and swiftly destroyed the shabtimon. "Wow! What happened to them?" Sora couldn't believe that such relentless creatures would fall so easily.  
  
"It's simple really." explained Izzy. "The shabtimon were only made of mud, after all. When our digimon used their attacks, which are basically fire attacks-"  
  
"I get it! The shabtimon dried up and blew away!"   
  
The auburn-haired boy smiled. "Exactly!"  
  
"YOU MAY HAVE MADE SHORT WORK OF MY SHABTIMON, BUT THIS BATTLE IS FAR FROM OVER! ZYDECO PEPPER BEAM!"  
  
With that, a white-hot beam streaked towards them, leaving scorched earth in its wake. It crashed against a stone cliff and flared off, the rock face glowing blood-red for several long moments.   
  
"Ahh!" Joe looked down on his arm. The heat from the passing beam had given him a nasty burn. It hurt like hell, but he'd have to deal with it later. Right now his friends needed him. Staggering to his feet, he pulled a half-conscious Gomamon out of a low tree branch.   
  
"Aaaoohhh....Joe? What's going on? Are we dead?"   
  
Joe snorted in reply. "If we are, I think someone forgot to tell loudmouth over there.   
  
"Man, Doesn't he have a volume control?"   
  
"INSULTS NOW, BOYS? YOU WILL LEARN TO RESPECT MY AUTHORITY WHEN I'M THROUGH WITH YOU!" Heymon sneered wickedly across the field. "IN FACT, I BELIEVE I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR FIRST LESSON NOW!"   
  
He reached into a small pouch and pulled out an indecipherable contraption and began to laugh maniacally as he pointed it into the middle of the huddled team. "MARVEL AT MY BRILLIANCE WHILE YOU CAN, DIGI-DESTINED! THIS MAY BE THE LAST TIME YOU WILL SEE IT-ALIVE!"  
  
A bluish beam of light sped towards, then past them. Tai blinked in surprised relief. "He missed? He missed! Ha!" He grabbed T.K's hands and danced around a little. "HaHa! Screw you Heymon! You missed us!"  
  
"Uh, Tai?"  
  
"Hah ha hah ha ha!"  
  
"TAI!"   
  
"Huh?" Tai stopped mid-taunt and stared at Joe, who was fearfully pointing at something behind them all. "I don't think he was aiming for us, Tai."   
  
"QUITE RIGHT, BOY! ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU THE FRUITS OF MY LABORS. A SHAME I WAS NOT ABLE TO CONTINUE ON, BUT I THINK YOU WILL FIND HER MOST...EFFECTIVE."  
  
The bluish light had indeed hit its target. The female gomamon was completely ensnared by it. The others could only watch in horror as she writhed and fought it.   
  
But quickly it overpowered her, and she began to digivolve. When the glow finally faded, there stood a new digimon champion.  
  
A humanoid digimon champion. Dressed similar to an anime cavewoman, she was the same height and build as Mimi, with bright pink hair, lagoon-blue eyes, and...a southern accent??  
  
"Greetin's y'all. Th' name's Genki Kawaii. Don't bother ta ruhmember it, y'all won't needin' ta use it after Ah'm through!"(a/n-hey give me a break! I'm from Buffalo!)  
  
She leapt into the air, did an anime-style power spin(a/n-picture Mercury bubbles)and cried out at the top of her lungs, "LIGHT STAFF POWER CHARGE!!"   
  
A thin beam of light appeared in her hands, and she pointed it at Gabumon, hitting him square in the chest.   
  
"GABUMON! Oh man, this isn't good! We have to beat her!" cried Matt.  
  
"No! We can't hurt her, she's our friend!" insisted Mimi. Matt turned to her angrily from where Gabumon had landed.   
  
"Don't you get it Mimi? She's a traitor! She deliberately led us here. She's in cahoots with that jerkamon over there."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Look, Mimi, Matt's right." Sora gently laid her hands on her best friend's shoulders. "If she was a good digimon, why didn't she pretend not to be able to speak earlier? And why would she strike Gabumon?"  
  
"Well, maybe, um... " Mimi's face fell as a good reason refused to appear. "I don't know." she replied in a small voice. She gathered a deep breath and, tears streaming down her face, held up her crest. "All right, Palmon, let's go!"   
  
Sora patted Mimi's arm, then called out, "C'mon everybody! We can beat them if we work together!"  
  
Genki laughed. "Ah hardly doubt you will, but let's all have some fun, shall we?"  
  
"Gabumon warp-digivolve to...MetalGarurumon!"  
  
"Palmon digivolve to...Togemon!...digivolve to....Lillymon!"  
  
"Kabutarimon digivolve to...Kabutarimon...digivolve to...MegaKabutarimon!"  
  
"Birdramon digivolve to....Birdramon...digivolve to....Garudamon!"  
  
"Patamon digivolve to...Angemon!"  
  
"Gatomon digivolve to...Angewomon!"  
  
  
"Greymon warp-digivolve to...WarGreymon!"  
  
"LIGHT STAFF POWER CHARGE!!" Genki took aim at the closest target, Lillymon, who managed to duck it in the nick of time.   
  
"FLOWER CANNON!" Unfortunately, she aimed a bit too high and only succeeded in blowing up a tree.  
  
"METAL WOLF CLAW!"  
  
"HAND OF FATE!"  
  
"ZYDECO PEPPER BEAM!"   
  
The three attacks collided simultaneously, creating a blinding flash.  
  
"Ow! Oh, I just know we're all going to end up dead. Yup, I can see it now. Battered, bruised, and totally dead." moaned Joe as he tried to blink away the spots in front of his eyes. He watched as the others battled Heymon and Genki with little success. Then he realized something.  
  
"Hey wait a sec! Gomamon, why haven't you digivolved yet?" He looked down at his digi-pal. The water digimon was staring at the battlefield with a look of total confusion.   
  
"I-I don't know, Joe. It's like-like a part of me doesn't want to. I feel like a computer program on freeze!"  
  
Joe knelt down and hugged his friend. "I know it looks bad, Gom, but you have to be strong. Things are never really as bad as they seem, no matter how much I try to say otherwise." he joked.   
  
Gomamon whipped his head around angrily. "How could she to this to me-uh, us?!"   
  
Joe sighed, ignoring the Freudian slip. "I don't know. Hey!" A sudden notion popped in his brain. "Do you think it's possible that Heymon is using some kind of mind control? Yeah! I'll bet that's it!"   
  
The water digimon carefully pondered this. "It's possible." he replied slowly. "Heymon did say she was forced back here."  
  
"Hey! How about a little help here, Joe!?"   
  
The duo looked up. Tai glared at them with clenched fists. "You two are chatting while we do all the dirty work! Now give us a hand! We're hurting here!"   
  
Sure enough, Genki had managed to clip one of Lillymon's wings, and it hung limp against her back. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were also looking a little weary. But so was Heymon. A purplish ooze coated one shoulder and arm. Snarling, he screamed out, "GENKI KAWAII! USE YOUR SPECIAL ATTACK ON PUPPYDOG HERE!"  
  
"Ten-four, boss-mon!' She held out her hand. This time when her light staff appeared, she leapt in between MetalGarurumon and Heymon.  
  
"ICE WOLF CLAW!" He immediately cried out. As the beam shot towards the two villains, Genki held out her staff at arm's length and cried out-  
  
"POWER DRAIN TIMES TEN!"  
  
Immediately it absorbed the blast, then engulfed MetalGarurumon as well. He screamed, then Gabumon stared at his paw in disbelief. Genki laughed, then turned to face Heymon. The same light engulfed him, but he roared with laughter as his muscles swelled with MetalGarurumon's energy.   
  
"Oh wow, did you see that?!" Sora turned to Matt. "She just sucked up Gabumon's energy and gave it to Heymon!"  
  
"Well now she's gone too far!" cried Gomamon. "Stand back, Joe! Gomamon digivolve to...Ikkakumon!"   
  
The woolly mammoth/walrus look-alike charged towards his falling friends.   
  
"HARPOON TORPEDO!"  
  
The missile shot over the humanoid's head and made contact with Heymon's already injured shoulder.  
  
"ARRGGHH!! YOU'LL PAY DEARLY FOR THAT, YOU OVERGROWN TOILET SEAT COVER!"  
  
Ikkakumon prepared for another attack, but suddenly he felt like his body was no longer quite his own. It felt like something was telling his subconscious something, but he didn't know what.  
  
"Gabumon digivolve to...Garurumon!" The blue striped wolf again leapt into action, though just a shadow of his previous incarnation.   
  
"ICE BLASTER!"  
Heymon roared in pain as his injured shoulder was again assaulted. Izzy quickly caught on. "That's it! Aim for his weak spot and we can defeat him!"  
  
In response, they all took aim and fired with precision. Heymon screamed like a banshee, glowed brightly, and disappeared. "Prodigious! My theory was correct!"  
  
"Haha! Way to go, Izzter!" The others smiled and laughed as they patted Izzy on the back.  
  
"It ain't over yet, y'all! Yuh still have me ta deal with!" Genki Kawaii stood defiantly, but Joe noticed how her hands were shaking.   
  
"Genki! You don't have to fight us! We're your friends!"  
  
"Joe, what are you doing?! Have you gone nuts?" Tai was incredulous. After all, this girl had already hurt Lillymon, and forced MetalGarurumon to devolve. Joe, however, ignored him.   
  
"Heymon was just using you Genki! We'll help you! Please, just stop fighting us!"  
  
The magenta-haired maiden held her ground, but now her shaking was quite obvious to everyone. "N-no! Y'all are mah enemy! Heymon was mah only friend. Ah will destroy you like you destroyed him!"   
  
Her voice was unsteady, her breathing hard and shallow. A war was waging inside her now, Heymon's will versus her heart.   
Mimi stepped besides Joe. "It'll be okay, Genki! We'll go shopping together! I know all the best stores in the mall, we'll go to the beauty parlor, and-"  
  
"MIMI!" the others cried simultaneously.  
  
"What?"   
  
Angewomon spoke next. "What Mimi means is that we are willing to overlook your past behavior, as we see now that it wasn't really your doing." The other digimon nodded in complete agreement.  
  
Genki's eyes watered. "I-I....." Without warning, her eyes became as hard as jade. "NO! LIARS!!"  
  
"LIGHT STAFF POWER CHARGE!!"  
  
"HARPOON TORPEDO!"   
  
Before anyone could react, Ikkakumon's attack pierced through the beam, and impaled Genki, but did not explode. Instead, bolts of electricity coursed around her body, forcing her to devolve into the gomamon she was before. She fell to the ground. She lifted her head and stared, before collapsing again.   
  
"Oh my gosh! Hang on Genki!" Tai screamed.   
  
They ran at top speed towards her , but it was too late. They arrived just in time to see her body shimmer and fade into mist. Mimi dropped to her knees and began to bawl. "Oh no! Not again! Why did she have to die! Oh, it's just so not fair!"  
  
All the others began to sniffle, or were already flat out bawling. Wiping his eyes, Joe looked behind him at Gomamon. He just stood there, a few feet away, in total shock.   
  
Gomamon hadn't meant to kill her, hadn't even meant to use the attack. But he had, and now she was gone. He felt cold inside. As he stared at the spot her face had been, he remembered the look in her eyes and the feeling he'd gotten from them just before she was deleted. Not anger, not fear nor betrayal.   
  
Just complete and utter gratitude.  
  
  
  
Aren't I the evil one? :) Well, if I get a good response to this, I'll write a sequel. If I get a bad response, well, I'll writ a sequel.   
  
So the question is this-why did Goma attack if he hadn't intended? Was there some deeper connection, or just plain instinct? We'll see....death isn't very permanent 'round here, after all....at least, not always!  
  



End file.
